Press Release: Cadiz Inc. Announces New Water Project Support from Southern California Local Elected Officials

15 Aug Press Release: Cadiz Inc. Announces New Water Project Support from Southern California Local Elected Officials

8.6.15 – LOS ANGELES, CA (BusinessWire) – Southern California land and water resources development company Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ: CDZI) (“Cadiz”, the “Company”) announced today that it has received several new endorsements from local elected officials in support of the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery & Storage Project (“Cadiz Water Project”). The Cadiz Water Project is an innovative, water conservation project that over two phases will create a new water supply for approximately 400,000 people and make available up to 1 million acre-feet of new groundwater storage capacity.

“The possibility of Cadiz providing 50 years of ready water, serving a minimum of 100,000 families per year, is an exceptionally positive step forward for our water management portfolio in Southern California,” stated Congressman Duncan Hunter in his recent letter to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (“MWD”).

In a separate letter to MWD, Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett also stated: “After extensive review and outreach, I am pleased to learn that MWD and Cadiz Inc. are working collaboratively to ensure conformity to necessary water quality and operational standards. While ensuring reliable and safe drinking water, I encourage the Board and staff to do everything they can within MWD’s administrative procedures to expedite the delivery of Cadiz water to Southern California.”

The Cadiz Water Project is a public–private partnership between Cadiz Inc. and the Santa Margarita Water District and other local water providers that serve over 1 million customers across California. Under a groundwater management program to be enforced by San Bernardino County, the Project will capture and conserve groundwater that is presently lost to evaporation and high salinity in the eastern Mojave Desert and deliver that water via the Colorado River Aqueduct (“CRA”) into Southern California. The Project was approved in 2012 by two public agencies following an extensive environmental review process according to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). In 2014, the Orange County Superior Court upheld all CEQA approvals. The Project is now finalizing arrangements to transport conserved water via a pipeline within an existing railroad right-of-way and the CRA to hundreds of thousands of water users across Southern California. The Project is slated to begin construction in 2016.